Finding Your Path: The Wisdom of Standing Still

The Elder teaches that standing still allows the forest to guide and reveal one's true path.

### Embracing the Unknown: Finding Your Path in Self-Doubt
* 🌲 "You cannot sleepwalk your way into your destiny. You must **wake up and pay attention**."
* 🧭 Knowing you're on your path often comes from a sense of **disorientation**, where familiar identities fade away, leading to **self-doubt** as you embark on a new journey.
* 🌌 The metaphor of being lost in a forest illustrates the importance of **standing still and recognizing that the environment around you is not lost**; it is your **perception that needs clarity**.
* 🌳 The Elder's advice to "**stand still**" emphasizes the necessity of **grounding oneself in the present moment**, as the trees and bushes are aware of their location.
* 🔍 You must treat your current situation as a "**powerful stranger**," seeking permission to understand it and allowing it to **reveal itself to you**.
* 🤫 Silence plays a crucial role in this process; without it, the **internal chaos can drown out the potential for real change and growth**.
* 🌬 The forest symbolizes a guiding force that knows your position; by allowing it to **find you**, you can **discover your true path forward**.
* 💫 Ultimately, embracing silence and attentiveness can lead to **profound insights and transformations** in your life journey.

how do you know that you're on your path? Because it disappears, that's how you know. Can't see where you're going, that's how you know. Um, but everything you have lent on for your identity has gone. MH. And so you are going to enter um the the uh black contemplative splendors of self-doubt at the same time as you're setting out on this radical New Path. And then you see if you can put this across. People suddenly say wow amazing that's that's my life. There's something astonishing about my um that would it was a story that would be told to a young boy or girl that would ask the question what do I do when I'm lost in the forest. So you need to know how you know where you are. Here's the answer that the the Elder gives. You can feel from this how precise the teaching is. A girl who asked a question what do I do when I'm lost in the parents. The Elder says stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you are

not lost. Stand still. What do I do when I'm lost in the forest? Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you are not lost. Wherever you are is called here, and you must treat it as a powerful stranger. Must ask permission to know it and be known. Listen. The forest breathes. It Whispers. I have made this place around you. If you leave it, you may come back again saying here. Stand still. The forest knows where you are. You must let it find you. See what's astonishing about that poem is you can say there are three things in this poem you see that are absolutely clear. First of all, the Elder says you cannot Sleepwalk your way into your destiny. You must wake up and pay attention. Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you are not lost. You must pay attention. Second stage is that uh is that in this in this teaching from the ELD is this incredible feeling of Silence that but unless you have this silence in your life and you feel the silence in the poe he says if you leave

it you may come back again saying here and I think uh what the Elder is saying there is that uh if you pay real attention unless you have silence an ability for silence in your body to do that then you will get too frightened because all the voices inside you will drown out any real change they'll you have a hundred reasons not to do to make any real change you see and you've got all the voices and all the reasons not to do it and so the ability profound for profound silence is being called on here and then that attention can can flower into something else the forest knows where you are you must let it find you.

Stay silent

Explore the World of Imagination

Knowing you're on your path often comes from the feeling of disorientation and self-doubt.

When everything you relied on for your identity disappears, it signals the start of a radical new journey.

The key to finding your way is to stand still and observe your surroundings, allowing clarity to emerge.

When lost in the forest, it's important to stand still and recognize that the surroundings are not lost.

The forest is portrayed as a powerful entity that can guide you if you take the time to listen and pay attention.

The poem emphasizes the importance of being present and finding silence in order to connect with your environment and allow the forest to help you.

The Importance of Silence for Personal Change

The Elder emphasizes the need for profound silence to counteract the overwhelming internal voices that hinder real change.

Paying attention in silence allows for a deeper understanding and transformation.

The message suggests that by embracing silence, one can let their true path and purpose be revealed.